Saturday, March 2, 2013

Lee Price: American Figurative Realist Oil Painter

Lee Price

Working out of New York this contemporary oil painter focuses on overhead self-portraits.  The viewer is positioned directly above the subject, forcing a literal play-on-words of the viewer looking down on the figure.  The figure's posture responds to this overhead view sometimes with tight-crouching shoulders that hide the body or sometimes with a more relaxed but heavy pose.  Figurative heaviness is apparent in all of her works exemplified by the presence of weighty foods.  The food in combination with settings of bathtubs, beds, and comfy chairs suggests the figure is fetishizing lethargic activities.

Full, Oil on Linen, 44” X 54”


Lemon Meringue, Oil on Linen, 32" x 72"



Price has commented that her works are a comment on "body image, feminism, and our cultural relationship to food."


Butter, Oil on Linen, 66" x 44"


What sparks questions for me in her work is the process.  To capture self-portraits that feature the full body from an overhead angle she must work either with a large-mirror (most obviously) or photographs.  (Or she very adequately renders figures without looking at any reference)  So if she does work from a photograph (to be able to render the proportions of her back, such as in the piece above) why paint it? She can many these works using photography.  Contemporary artists must continuously be conscious of the effects of technologies on the appreciation of art.  These are immensely impressive realist paintings show off her skill as a painter, but what about painting is important for the viewer to understand this piece?

http://www.leepricestudio.com/painting13.html

DIY: Tie Headbands


Have you ever felt like you paid way too much for a headband? Or tried to make your own and spent too much money on fabrics? Dana has. And if she were here (and she is), she would tell you to listen up because I have great news for you!
You know what makes fantastic and unexpected headbands? Men's ties.

My dad has a ton that he doesn't wear any more, but I'm sure that he would not appreciate me cutting them up. So instead, Dana and I picked up  some good ones at thrift stores around town. Goodwill seems to be a good one, but sometimes it can get a bit pricey, as far as thrift stores go. Lucky for us, we just keep going on days when they have $1 sales. Everything in the store is only $1. Seriously. Best. Thing. Ever.
Punctuation makes things dramatic-ly emphasized, you know.
I picked up eight different ties in one go!
So naturally, this crafty chica was ready to get to work straight away. (Did I really just call myself a "crafty chica?" Guess so... Hmmm... maybe the extent of my Spanish is not just "taco." Who knew.)

First step: I cut the skinny end of the tie so it was just long enough to tie around my head. (If you cut it a bit too short, there's a piece of white canvas on the inside of the tie that you can take out. It'll give you another half-inch of room or so, depending on how thick the tie is. Just stich the back right on up once you're done, and it's on to Step 2!)
Second step: I like to fold down the end that you cut in a triangle. This way, it kind of mimics the actual end of the tie, the one that you won't do anything with other than maybe cut the materials tag off, if it's even there. Or, if you want to advertise that your tie is 100% silk (and who doesn't love bragging now and then), then by all means, leave the thing on there!
Brag away. I won't tell you what to do. Much.
Third step: Now's when you would sew up that open (now folded) end to the headband. Make it as neat as you like. Sometimes I like to let the stitches show, give it a more handmade feel. Sometimes I make it as neat as I can, just to be a bit more polished.

And voila! Instant headband! Just tie it around your head, and you're ready to par-tay. Tea party that is. Might as well get fancy with it.
If you're feeling super crafty and have some floral wire or even jewelry wire hanging around, you could try putting a wire down the center of the headband (on the inside, of course) to make it super chic and fashionable. And to wear with a bit more ease.

Like I said, I picked up eight of these bad boys at various thrift stores earlier this weekend, and I "converted" all of them to headbands in an hour or two.
So experiment, play around with things, and if you come up with any bright ideas for the other half of the tie, let us know!
Dana might have a treat for y'all later on the tie front,  but I'll try not to spoil things.

Until next time, my dears!

Seven out of eight are chilling on my floor. Next project: storage...





Sunday, January 20, 2013

The Neverending Hallway of... Stuff?


All we were told for this project was to get a suitcase.
Little did we know that it would take us down  a dark hallway of thrifting misfortune...

Well, maybe not misfortune. That sounds a bit ominous.
Overly dramatic much, Kelly?


Monday, December 10, 2012

Today In Art Class: 12/6/2012

10:30am - I overslept and a text from painting professor reads "Come to class we are having a party/dancing!"

11:00am - Get to class; there is no dancing, but there are several people are gathering bugs to look at under a microscope?....  Just because!

2:00pm - Printmaking professor starts to tell a story about two freak kids in Florida ("freak" being the derogative term used after hippies went out of style)....      

4:25pm - Printmaking professor is reminded he didn't finish the story; his response is that the two freak kids really liked bom-pops!! ...(End of story)


- by Dana Potter, Art Major

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

FFT: Being an Art Student is Terrifying

I hear a lot of "oh being an art student is easy. You get to do what you love every day. You don't have to be smart, you don't have to work that hard, you don't have to do... anything." 
I don't think people who say this have any idea what actually goes into being an art student.
Being an art student is hard.
Being an art student is terrifying.
Being an art student is perhaps the most important thing I've done. It's maybe the only thing I think I've done right in my life. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

Yes, I get to do what I love every day. But that doesn't mean it isn't work. I struggle with projects like you might struggle over math problems. Except I'll come up with an answer that is completely different than what someone who is sitting right next to me might come up with. And that's okay. That's expected. Actually, if you come up with the same idea as whoever is sitting next to you, odds are, you are going to fail.

It gives me a sense of satisfaction to struggle over these problems, to work through thoughts and emotions, and come up with better work because of it. When my entire life is going down the drain, my art only gets better. I want to say that there's a reason to be thankful for life being shitty.

I don't know how I want to justify my choice to be an art student, though.
The first problem, I guess, is all the people who say "But what are you going to do with an art major?"
My answer: I don't know.
Why would I know?
Why would I want to know?
Wouldn't that take all the fun out of life?
I'd much rather take things one day at a time, figure things out as I go along, rather than have a plan and follow it to a "T". Because what if things go wrong? How could I pick my life up after that? Would I try to continue down that path, or would I have to scrap everything I've done in the past and start over? No. And I get that everyone is different about this, but that would not make me happy.
I need a little spontaneity, a little spice in my life.

I've already addressed people that say that being an art major is easy.

But my main point: being an art major is terrifying.

You pour all your energy, all your soul and heart, your literal (and figurative) blood, sweat, and tears into a piece, and then... you put it out into the world. How is that not the most terrifying thing in the world? To know that your peers, your teachers, people you want to like and respect you, are judging what you think and feel and create. 
That to be the best, you have to be torn down and built back up. 
That to excel and succeed, you have to fail. 

And people say that I took the "easy" path in college. That I am wasting my potential. 
They can't see it. 
That not only am I doing what I love, what makes me happy, but I am challenging myself. I am working harder than they could know. I may not be spending every hour of free time on a lab report, but how is my work not as important?



Saturday, October 20, 2012

Art Building Madness

You know those crazy people walking around with weird things on their heads? The ones always locking themselves in display cases while they sit around doing some crazy thing or another? The ones who put everything, every random thing they can imagine, on their walls so that it becomes one giant collage and you can't even see the walls anymore?
Those are art students.

There's always crazy crazy stuff going on on the walls in the art building.











You never know what you're going to find in the art building.



Sunday, October 7, 2012

Today In Art Class: 10/7/2012

Today I opened my school email box, to find a letter from my art professor.
The subject line read: More Advice
All the email contained was a link to this youtube video:



I just find it hilarious that this constitutes as advice.